People often encounter situations where they need or want to receive information from a source other than another person, but are unable to receive the information because of a language barrier. In an airport or train station, for example, a person may need information that will direct him to a particular location or will tell him arrival and departure times, but the person may be unable to obtain the information because he does not understand the local language. At a shopping mall or an amusement park, the person may desire information about operating hours, or a prospective purchase or an attraction, but may encounter a language barrier. A person may also experience a language barrier when encountering instructions for the operation of a device such as a vending machine, automatic teller machine, microwave oven, or amusement device.
Information may be delivered to a person in a variety of ways, or “delivery formats.” For example, information may be delivered to the user via a display as text and/or symbol, via a speaker as an audible message, or via a display as a video clip with or without an audible message. Further, the delivery format may include written or audible information in a language with which the person may be unfamiliar. A person traveling in foreign country and entering a subway station, for example, may be bombarded with information, but may not be able to understand or receive the information. The shortcomings of delivery formats are not limited to foreign travel, however. A deaf person in his own land may be unable to understand information presented in an audible delivery format, a blind person may not be able to understand information presented in a symbolic delivery format, and an illiterate person may not be able to understand information presented in a textual delivery format.